Sitting in a Tree
by Saturn Girl
Summary: In the zombie apocalypse, it is really nice to have someone watching your back. This will be a series of missing scenes with 10k and Red set between their two year gap between season three and four.
1. Chapter 1

Groggy and confused, Red roused from a deep sleep when her bedding jerked up and down, then back and forth. She rubbed the fuzz from her eyes, trying to orient herself in the darkness. What time was it? Not that she could ever really tell anymore. Nobody owned a watch.

It was only a crescent moon tonight, so the tent was almost pitch black with only a dim haze of light shining through the mesh windows. The nightly chorus of frogs "brripped" together alongside the rhythmic burbling of the creek.

None of the alarm cans or bells strung around their camp perimeter were jangling. There seemed to be no threats nearby.

"Tommy?" she whispered. He was Tommy in private, but always 10k when any of his friends were around. Never, ever Thomas. He was very insistent about that.

Fully awake now, Red could feel that he was thrashing slowly inside the two sleeping bags they had zipped together to form their bed. He pushed against the plaid flannel lining with both hands as if warding off an attacker.

"No…no, Murphy, no…" he muttered into the darkness, his eyes still screwed shut. When Red grasped his bare shoulder she could feel a light sheen of cool sweat.

Another nightmare.

She spooned closer to him, embracing him from behind as she carefully pulled his left arm back to his side. He startled from her grasp.

"Lemme go!"

"Shh. You're free now. He's gone," she whispered into his shoulder, and he relaxed, easing into the arc of her body curved against his. Red dotted his lean back with gentle kisses. She felt the raised scars of the bite mark against her lips, a permanent reminder of what frightened Tommy even after all these months.

He squeezed her hand and kissed the tender crook of her thumb. "Sorry," he murmured so quietly that she almost couldn't hear him. She felt tears on his cheek when she cupped his face before drawing her hand back to his hip.

"It's okay. You're safe. Go back to sleep." She pressed her face against his back.

There was no need for Tommy to apologize. Red thought of all the times he had soothed her in their sleeping bag when the dark memories had come back to haunt her in the middle of the night.

Black Summer. The roving gangs in Minneapolis. Her brother vanishing. He'd helped her deal with them all.

But he was the silent one. Over the past year Red had relayed her horror stories, and yet she'd only heard bits and pieces of what had happened to Tommy. That was mostly because he talked in his sleep, and the few things Doc had told her.

"It might drive you crazy that 10k doesn't like to talk," Doc had said to her before he left on his journey. "But that's just the way he is. Take good care of him for me and promise me you'll listen when he does."

She would keep that promise. She liked having someone to protect. If she was being honest with herself, she needed that in her life to feel like she was somehow making a difference. It was like in some small way she was helping mankind survive, one apocalypse survivor at a time. Especially now that her brother was gone she was grateful to have Tommy in her life. They watched over one another and kept each other's nightmares at bay.

She could now hear Tommy's thudding heartbeat slow. He stopped stroking her arm draped on his hip as his form slackened into their sleeping bag cocoon. His breathing finally slipped into a soft snore.

She inhaled his earthy, masculine scent while she nuzzled him. Tommy always smelled like he had cloaked himself in the trees and the streams he loved so much. His father had raised him in the wild. Had taught him how to hunt and fish there. He never wanted to leave the woods again, he'd told her once.

He said it was why he stayed behind when Doc got the wandering spirit. Tommy said he was done with crazy road trips. He wanted the two of them to live here for the rest of their lives, however long or short they may be.

That sounded just fine to Red. She hadn't had a real home since pre-Z. This tree house they had constructed together was the sanctuary she'd craved for years and years. She felt safe here.

She let her head slide back down to her pillow. Tommy was the man who showed Red that even in the apocalypse, not everyone was a predator. People could still be gentle and kind. There was still room for trust in this world filled with so much cruelty.

And there was still space for love. Maybe it could only exist in their safe little tree house while the rest of the world raged around them, but it was real and it was theirs and she would hold onto it…hold onto HIM for as long as she could.

While clutching Tommy's hand at his side, Red closed her eyes and listened to the frogs, and the creek until she succumbed to sleep again.

\- tbc -


	2. Chapter 2

"It doesn't matter how far you run, Thomas. I will always find you," Murphy whispered into his ear.

"Get away from me," growled 10k. He shoved Murphy as hard as he could. The older man stumbled but didn't lose his feet, and his blue mottled mug smirked back at 10k while he laughed. The ridiculous crown on his head was knocked askew.

"Caw!" Murphy squawked, grinning ear to ear as he righted his crown. "Caw! Caw!"

"What the…?" 10k gaped at him.

The dream dissipated as 10k woke to the sounds of two angry crows cawing and scratching at each other on a branch just outside the tree house. Or tree tent, to be more accurate. He spied the blur of black wings through the mesh window when one of the crows conceded the fight and flew away. The sun was shining outside, but he could smell the morning dew beading on the nylon panels of the tent.

"Red?" he called out sleepily. He pushed his hair out of his eyes, thankful to shake off the bad dream.

He yawned as he sat up on the inflatable camp mattress and stretched his arms and shoulders. The folds of the flannel sleeping bag pooled around his waist. The early morning chill hit his bare skin and caused him to shiver, so 10k jerked himself to his feet to grab his clothes that had been airing out on the clothes line stretched across the length of the tent. He wrinkled his nose after smelling his drawers and shirt – not that rank by apocalyptic standards, but it was definitely time to either scrounge up some new clothes or actually do some laundry.

Red's clothes and her war club were gone.

"Red? You down there?" he yelled while he quickly pulled on his clothes. He used his fingers to tame his wild bed hair as best he could. He wasn't too worried that she wasn't within ear shot. The makeshift outhouse they'd constructed was as far downwind from their treehouse as they could get away with.

He grabbed the box of baking soda from the storage cabinet he'd stashed in the corner and poured some onto his palm. Doc had taught them all to use that to brush their teeth when they couldn't dig up any tooth paste anywhere. He never thought he'd miss the taste of Crest as he swished the salty sour powder around his mouth with his fingers and a slug of water from his drinking flask. It was yucky, but better than nothing.

He scowled when he looked down at the bite mark on his forearm. He pulled down his sleeve to cover it and wished for the millionth time that he could ditch every reminder of his tormentor. Things were getting easier for 10k the more time passed, but Murphy was never fully gone from his thoughts.

Thank God he had Red now, and she was real! For a long time, especially during those long stretches in solitary confinement, concentrating on thoughts of Red was the only way he could wall Murphy out of his head.

For weeks after their reunion he was scared he would wake up in the asylum and find out she was only a hallucination, wishful thinking after Murphy destroyed what was left of his mind. He remembered tentatively reaching out to touch her hair or her arm to reassure himself she wouldn't disappear. She'd look at him kind of funny, like she knew what he was doing, but then she'd flash that beautiful smile of hers and it was more than enough to get him through the rest of the day.

Red was his beacon. His lifeline. 10k knew with all his heart that he could never have found his way back to his true self without her.

He slung his rifle over his shoulder and scuttled down the rope ladder to the campsite below.

"Red!" he called out again, amplifying his voice with his hands around his lips. He scanned the woods around the camp. He smiled when he finally spotted her ragged red cloak on the winding trail that led down to the river. She waved at him from the distance.

10k put down his rifle and grabbed a couple hefty pieces of firewood and stacked them in the campfire pit. He stuffed some dry grass and leaves under the logs. Using the broken eyeglass lens from his pocket he was able to focus some sunlight onto the kindling and get it to light. He blew on it carefully to feed the flame.

"Hey, sleepyhead!" Red said when she finally arrived at the campsite. She raised a stick and woven grass hewn fish trap to show 10k the fresh caught steelhead inside.

"Ah! Breakfast. You are so awesome, babe." 10k stood up and put his arms around her and kissed her in greeting.

She gave him a squeeze back with her free arm and giggled when she finally pulled back from the kiss. "Mmmm. Baking soda."

10k laughed. "Hey, you mock me, but isn't it better than getting Ender mouth?"

"Yes. I am so glad my boyfriend is not an Ender." She patted his cheek affectionately. "Although I think we are both starting to smell like one. I think it is only fair that since I got breakfast, YOU get to do laundry." Red set down the fish trap and set about whittling some sticks for cooking.

10k fed more kindling on the fire. "I dunno…can we go skinny dipping while our clothes dry?" he said, arching his eyebrow at her suggestively.

"Is there any other way to do laundry?" she wagged back, and favored him with a huge smile. Man, she was gorgeous.

His bad dream now long forgotten, 10k was ready for the rest of the day. He had a feeling it was going to be a great one.


	3. Chapter 3

"Oh man. I love laundry days!" Still gasping for breath, Tommy gathered Red in his arms and kissed the top of her head after they flopped down, drenched and exhausted, onto the tattered patchwork quilt laid out on the grass.

"That was…" Red panted, teasing the wiry hairs on his chest. "Wow." Her heart was still fluttering and her legs felt like melted sticks of butter.

He smiled at her and pushed the wet locks of hair out of her face before he leaned over and kissed her mouth, his lean muscled arms propped on either side of her shoulders. Rivulets of river water dripped off his body onto hers and she savored the coolness mixed with the warm afternoon sun on her bare skin. She snuck a quick nibble on his lip before he pulled away.

He collapsed back onto the blanket next to her. They laid there in silence for a long time, and Red listened to the ebbs and flows of the river rushing by. She watched the fluffy white clouds slowly stretch across the bright blue sky. Butterflies flitted near the patch of magenta fireweeds a few yards away. The freshly washed clothes they'd hung on the branches of the trees swayed gently in the breeze sweeping downstream.

Red had forgotten what contentment felt like.

She leaned on her side to look over at Tommy, who was half asleep on the blanket. "I like how you make me feel." She stroked the side of his face.

His lashes fluttered open and he chuckled softly. He had to squint to keep the bright sun out of his eyes. "You're pretty great yourself, you know. Especially when you do that thing where you…"

She grinned and put her hand over his lips to shush him. "Tommy! I'm being serious!" She rose up on her elbow a bit to shield him from the sun, and looked deep into his grey green eyes. She wanted him to see.

"For a really, really long time, I felt like I had to be hard. Show no weakness, never let my guard down, always expect the worst. You know what the world is like now. It is so damned easy for parts of us to get broken and chipped away. Destroyed, even." She cupped his face in her hand. "But when I'm with you, I…I don't feel broken anymore."

His eyes softened and he blushed, his lips curling into a shy little smile that was like he couldn't believe what she was saying, but at the same time he had hoped to hear words like that his entire life. He reached over to dab the tear she hadn't realized had spilled down her cheek.

"Hey, hey. Don't cry. Do you remember when you thanked Sun Mei for saving my life?" he asked. She nodded.

"She didn't," he said. "YOU saved me."

Red shook her head. "You were dead. I'm not a doctor, I could never…"

"No," he insisted. "You did. I was lost. I thought forever." He sat up on the blanket and pulled his knees up to his chest. He looked off into the distance, shaking his head.

"Murphy stripped away everything that was me." He spit out the words like there were poison, his scarred brow furrowed with anger. "I was…nothing. A husk. I couldn't think for myself, or act for myself. I couldn't even use my own name anymore. I was in Hell."

He looked back at Red. "Every time I thought I'd lost all hope, you showed up and rescued me."

This was the first time Tommy had ever opened up about Murphy. In the past year he didn't even like to say his name…almost like it would summon Murphy forth like that evil wizard guy from those books her mother read to her so many years ago. Touched beyond measure, Red was about to respond when she heard the loud snap of branches down by the river. Tommy also zeroed in on the sound.

Four zombies shambled out of the tree line. One of them got snagged in Tommy's plaid shirt hanging from a branch. It covered the zombie's face and it lurched around in circles, unable to see. When the others spied Red and Tommy they growled hungrily and moved quickly to attack.

"Puppies and kittens," he called out. He lept up and snatched his rifle. He handed Red her war club. "I got the two on the right. You get the ones on the left!"

Tommy calmly took aim and dropped two of the zombies with perfect headshots in rapid succession.

"Hi-yah!" Red yelled while she ran up and bashed a third zombie's face in with her club. It was black and bloated from so much time in the water, and the skull exploded like mush with a single strike, spraying Red with an obscene amount of disgusting gloopy brains and slime. She stopped in her tracks.

"Oh, ICK!" She gagged and retched, wiping the smelly mess off her face before she swallowed anything. The blinded zombie with the shirt on its head turned in her direction, waving its arms before it trying to find his prey.

"Babe? Do you want me to get that one?" Tommy asked. He aimed his rifle at the Z.

"No, no, I got it." She swung her war club around and bludgeoned the confused zombie. Thankfully the shirt over its head contained most of the disgusting brain splatter.

Tommy walked up next to her to look down at the felled zombie. He grimaced and put his hand over his nose to ward off the stench. "Ugh. The waterlogged ones are the WORST. You okay?"

"Yeah." She scraped off more bits of gooey mess and flung them down at the ground. "Oh God, this is so gross. I need another bath!"

Confident there were no more zombies in the area, Tommy put his arm around her and walked her back down towards the river. "Gross? Nah. That was the most awesome thing I have ever seen. I think you should always mercy Zs in the nude. You look totally hot!"

Red laughed. Laundry days really were the best days ever.


End file.
